Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Why we should take St Joseph as our role model this Lent

Catholics know that 19 March is the Feast of St Joseph. Fewer, perhaps, are aware that the entire month of March is dedicated to the Most Chaste Heart.

That seems a bit odd, doesn’t it? March is dominated by the Lenten fast, which is itself a preparation for Eastertide. According to tradition, Our Lord’s foster-father didn’t live to see his public ministry. In fact, it was necessary that St Joseph pass from this life before Christ could reveal Himself. Only then would Jesus become head of the royal House of David – both God and King by birthright.

But what has any of this to do with Lent? The answer is this: St Joseph was the first Christian mystic. He is the exemplar of the hidden life, the interior life: that which is most pleasing to God, and which we’re called to imitate during the fast.

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About MWD

Michael Warren Davis grew up in rural New England and worked as a farmhand throughout his youth. After two abortive semesters at The George Washington University, he moved to Sydney at the age of 20.

While in Australia, he was Assistant Editor at Quadrant and wrote a weekly column for The Spectator Australia... all while studying full-time for his Bachelor's degree in English and philosophy at the University of Sydney. (He did rather well.)

In 2015 he moved back to the United States and, after a long and fruitless battle against his Romish instincts, was received into the Church.

In 2016 he began working for the Catholic Herald of London. When the Herald decided to launch its American edition, he was appointed as the inaugural U.S. Editor. Today, he serves as an Associate Editor.

Davis is a frequent contributor toThe American Conservative. His work has also appeared in The Spectator USA, First Things, andThe Salisbury Review, among others.

He's an enthusiastic boxer, a decent fencer, a lousy poet, and a crack shot.